A tense arm wrestle at the MKM Stadium saw Leeds Rhinos get back to winning ways in the Betfred Super League as two tries from debutant Riley Lumb helped Rohan Smith’s side to a 18-12 win over Hull FC.

Tries in the first half from the young winger gave the Rhinos the advantage in the second half, which captain Cameron Smith built on with his try after 50 minutes. The black and whites hung on until the end to set up a tense finish as their search for a second win of the season continues.

Team News

With injuries in the camp, Rhinos head coach Rohan Smith gave a debut to 19-year old Riley Lumb for the trip to the MKM Stadium. The winger, who was part of the Rhinos Academy side that won the Grand Final in 2022, has been training with the first team for two years and is the second homegrown talent to make his debut this season after Ned McCormack. Lumb partnered Paul Momirovski on the left after injuries ruled Harry Newman and David Fusitu’a out of selection for the game.

Rhyse Martin’s move into centre to partner Luis Roberts gave Mickael Goudemand his first start since the win over Leigh in March. A youthful bench saw Leon Ruan and Alfie Edgell come in to join Jarrod O’Connor and Sam Lisone.

Hull handed debuts as well to Ed Chamberlain and Yusuf Aydin after the pair made loan moves during the week. Aydin was one of four former Leeds players in the black and whites outfit along with Liam Sutcliffe, Liam Tindall and Jack Walker, who recovered from injury to feature at full back.

1st Half

Straight from kick off, Leeds asserted their intentions by forcing Hull over the sideline to go straight on the attack. The home side rode the pressure well though to record the first points of the day. After threatening an attack off the back of a knock on by Justin Sangare, the black and whites managed to find space on Leeds’ edges on their next attacking set as Jack Walker broke through the tackle of Matt Frawley and Rhyse Martin to feed Morgan Smith to score the opening try of the game.

The lead was temporary though as Leeds’ debutant Lumb hit straight back for the visitors with a fantastic effort. The chance stemmed from an offload from Sangare, who made up for his earlier error, and as Leeds’ spine quickly shifted the ball to the right through the hands to Paul Momirovski, the experienced centre released Lumb early and the winger showed great speed and agility to weave his way through the Hull FC defence and score a sensational try on his first senior appearance.

As the half continued, chances kept arising for Leeds but to the frustrations of the travelling support, they were unable to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Using a knock on from Herman Ese’ese to their advantage, Mickael Goudemand looked certain to score but the back-rower was held up by a desperate tackle from Ligi Sao. James McDonnell had a big chance on the opposite side of the field too but Lachie Miller couldn’t feed his team mate quick enough as the score stuck at 6-6.

Hull struggled to muster a scoring chance in the remainder of the half, even when Simon Grix’s side were down on the Rhinos try line as good defence from the visitors held the black and whites at bay. Leeds looked to receive the reward for their efforts when Luis Roberts scored acrobatically in the corner on 31 minutes, only for the video referee to spot that the Leeds man’s leg had gone to ground before the ball.

Despite the knockback, the Rhinos managed to get their first lead of the afternoon as Lumb continued his man of the match display. A penalty on the debutant kickstarted Leeds’ assault downfield and after a strong carry from captain Smith, a well-weighted kick from Croft looked as though Lumb had beaten Walker to the ball to score. On further investigation by the video referee Jack Smith, the Leeds man had got his hand on the ball first and the try was shown the green light. Martin slotted the conversion home to make the score 12-6.

Even as the half expired, the Rhinos threatened to break, particularly as Miller managed to duck through a hole in the heart of Hull defence to sprint away. A desperate tackle stopped the full back, before a series of off-the-cuff passes involving Sam Lisone, Mickael Goudemand and Andy Ackers unfortunatly didn't to come off as the teams headed into the break separated by six points.

2nd Half

A bright start to the second half saw both sides go blow for blow with two important league points on offer.

Hull had the better of the exchanges as they forced repeat sets on the Rhinos try line but crucially, they couldn’t find the breakthrough with the likes of Franklin Pele and Ed Chamberlain. Leeds reacted with Lumb, who’s break down the sideline turned the momentum back in favour of Rohan Smith’s side, only for Croft to lose the ball trying to create a chance. The half back made up for the indiscretion as minutes later, his flat pass put Smith over from short range to shift the Rhinos into a 12 point lead.

Much like in the first half though, Hull didn’t wait long to respond. A knock-on from Edgell from the restart was punished by Lewis Martin who took Walker’s pass to finish in the corner. Jack Charles swung the touchline conversion between the posts to move the score back to within six points again.

The next try was going to prove crucial for either team and Leeds looked to have it when Andy Ackers, attempted to go for the try himself, had the ball pushed out of his hand and into path of Frawley who scored. On review from the video referee, it was judged that the Rhinos hooker had lost the ball as opposed to having it stripped out backwards.

Buoyed by the home support, Hull pushed for an equaliser off the back of a high tackle from McDonnell. Moving to within ten of the try line, a carry from Ese’ese looked to put Sutcliffe over, but Leeds’ defence clambered to stop the centre. A kick to the corner from Charles looked dangerous too, but good work from Roberts stopped Chamberlain from catching the ball cleanly.

Croft attempted to crush Hull hopes as the half back tried a drop goal inside the last ten minutes, but the ball drifted wider and gave the home side a seven-tackle set. Grix’s side used the extra play to progress the length of the field, but Smith was smothered on the last to deny the half back. More errors from Leeds further fuelled the home side’s attacks, but on both occasions, the Rhinos held strong in defence to see out their fifth win of the season.

Next up

A return to AMT Headingley next Friday sees the Rhinos take on London Broncos as part of another double header of action at the stadium.

The annual Varsity match between Leeds Beckett University and Uni of Leeds take place at 5.30pm before Leeds take on the newly promoted Broncos at 8pm.

Get your tickets now at tickets.therhinos.co.uk.

Match Facts

Hull FC

31. Jack Walker, 26. Lewis Martin, 43. Ed Chamberlain, 4. Liam Sutcliffe, 2. Liam Tindall, 19. Morgan Smith, 40. Jack Charles, 8. Herman Ese’ese, 9. Danny Houghton, 20. Jack Brown, 15. Jordan Lane, 12. Ligi Sao, 14. Joe Cator

Subs: 45. Yusuf Aydin, 21. Will Gardiner, 37. Logan Moy, 10. Franklin Pele (18^th Man – 27. Zach Jebson)

Tries: Smith (6), Martin (53)

Goals: Charles 2/2

Rhinos

1. Lachlan Miller, 33. Riley Lumb, 4. Paul Momirovski, 12. Rhyse Martin, 24. Luis Roberts, 6. Brodie Croft, 7. Matt Frawley, 8. Mikolaj Oledzki, 9. Andy Ackers, 17. Justin Sangare, 16. James McDonnell, 18. Mickael Goudemand, 13. Cameron Smith (C)

Subs: 15. Sam Lisone, 14. Jarrod O’Connor, 23. Leon Ruan, 29. Alfie Edgell (18^th Man – 30. Tom Nicholson-Watton)

Tries: Lumb (11, 34), Smith (51)

Goals: Martin 2/3

Attendance: 10,050